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Dear Friends,

Today we’ve been handed the thin edge of the wedge.

But the ripple effects from this carbon tax will grow to engulf every business and household as the costs magnify and the tax ratchets up.

The impact will be most severe in regional areas, where families, businesses and entire communities will carry a disproportionately higher tax load. Most of the lost jobs will be in regional Australia, because that is where the mining, manufacturing and electricity generation jobs are.

A reduction in fuel tax credits for heavy vehicles, by almost 7 cents per litre from July 2014, will cost the industry and its customers $510 million in 2014-15 alone, compounding the cost of all road freight for regional Australians and driving up the cost of everything we buy. 

The tax will add 10% to the electricity costs of running public trains and trams in the first year alone. Rail and marine operators will cop a new 6.21 cent per litre tax from 1 July 2012.  And the near doubling of excise on aviation fuels from 1 July 2012 will make it more expensive to fly within Australia.

The Prime Minister’s modelling of grocery price increases does not include the extra transport costs. The companies who manufacture food say prices will go up around 5%.

Electricity prices will go up 10 per cent in just one year thanks to the government’s carbon tax, despite regional Australians already paying more for electricity.

And while the Prime Minister today announced an increase in the tax-free threshold from $6,000 to $18,000, what she didn’t trumpet is that she is also increasing the tax rate applying to lower income levels from 15 to 19 cents and from 30 to 33 cents – clawing back much of the assistance families can expect.

At $23 per tonne, this carbon tax will raise about $9 billion per year making it the toughest carbon tax in the world.  And that’s before the price starts increasing.  No other country has imposed an economy-wide carbon tax or emissions trading scheme. To put this in perspective, Europe’s emissions trading scheme, covering 18 countries, raises $500 million per year (or around $1 per person). Labor’s carbon tax will raise around $400 per person.

Ultimately, all this is for minimal environmental gain.  According to the government’s own modelling our carbon dioxide output will actually increase and, of the reductions achieved, two-thirds will be purchased from overseas.

Once again, it goes to show you can’t trust this Prime Minister.

Be assured, we will do everything in our power to fight the carbon tax.

We will oppose it in opposition and rescind it in government.

Kind regards,


Warren Truss MP
Leader of The Nationals